When people ask me about how to best onboard new employees, I always reference child psychologist Dr. Penelope Leach’s saying, “Start as you mean to go on.” In the world of child rearing that means, if you want to raise a well-mannered teen…make sure your toddler knows not to throw her Cheerios on the floor. The beginning sets the tone for everything that follows.
And the same can be said for onboarding at an organization.
Onboarding isn’t just showing new hires where the bathrooms are or what’s in their benefits package. It’s your first and best chance to say to a new employee: This is how we work, and this is what matters here.
Given the increased focus on AI (pretty much everywhere we look), I wasn’t surprised to start seeing it incorporated into company onboarding. Helen Russell, Chief People Officer at HubSpot, recently shared on the Modern People Leader podcast how new hires experience AI simulations on Day 1 of onboarding—actually within the first hour! HubSpot wants to illustrate that AI isn’t just a side project; it’s fundamental to how they operate.
After the stage is set through onboarding, Russell shared a new ritual that helps the AI learning journey stick. It’s called the “MondAI Minute” (get it?). Every Monday, an employee shares a 60-second video of a creative AI use case. What began as a simple share has turned into a friendly competition, with ideas evolving “from deflect to automate to enable.”
And finally, starting on day one, HubSpot leaders convey the same message: When it comes to AI, we want you to experiment, take risks, and share what you learn. In other words, we’re giving you permission to play.
As we read in articles every day, there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world today about AI, its impact on jobs, how to use it, when to use it, and why to use it. Sharing your company’s perspective on AI and giving people the chance to use it in their roles as part of onboarding sends a clear signal: This is part of our DNA.
You only get once chance to make a first impression—as a company and as a leader.
8/12/25